We were highly anticipating a fancy-pants lunch prepared by Chef, and old school friend, Jeremy (I may have only been at Davidson Fine Arts for 2 years, but the important thing is I was there. That counts)–and lets just say it was the fanciest of pants. Loved the interior design, great service, and delicious food!

Just kidding. Hugely appreciated the giant laughs–it was the cherry on top of a great birthday lunch! We will be back for Sunday brunch … oh heck, we’ll be back for Sunday Supper. $28 for salad, entree, sides, and dessert — we all know Jin loves a good deal!

I’ll end with this throwback that Jin was able to dig up of her and Jeremy from their good ‘ole middle school years. I present to you a 5th grade Jeremy Miller and a 6th grade Jin (Chu)!

Atlanta has no shortage of culinary institutions that serve up a good southern style fried chicken. Whether it’s a fast food chain like Popeyes, a high end version from Watershed, or a new player in town like American Food and Beverage, there’s plenty of fried chicken to go around and satisfy your craving. That being said, there’s one place in Atlanta that stands out in my mind for having the best fried chicken in town: Busy Bee Cafe. Busy Bee is THE place I go when I have a serious hankering for soul food in the form of crispy fried chicken and sugary sweet tea. [Read more…]

During Easter weekend, my family and I got to celebrate the first birthday of our dear friends’ Stella and Sean’s daughter, Josephine. Knowing Stella’s personal style and stellar attention to detail, I jumped at the chance to feature her party on our modest blog. Luckily, Stella was happy to oblige my request and not only threw a beautiful celebration in honor of sweet Josephine but was more than happy to share her vendor information. Lucky us!

Jin and I are very fortunate to have had such a long, enduring friendship. It is rather a miracle that she has only had to apologize to me one time in years. Ha ha. I certainly drive her crazy enough, and yet she only truly snapped on a day she had to deal with bad customer service just moments before.

We haz dear, bratty, sisterly love. Yup, so, so, precious!

The secret to our successful friend marriage with two kids a piece, is that we enjoy the odd play date with good food. Even the kids have a good time. I dare say they argue less than we do-since they argue never! 🙂

So, just last week, Jin hiked over to our home in Inman Park, and we had some (mostly) relaxing hang time, which included a walk on the BeltLine to Krog Street Market and trying to ignore our kids while chatting at home.

We book it over to Krog Street Market-no time for pictures because we have to beat the lunch crowd at Gu’s Dumplings. 11:15 am, Friday. We coerced my 8 year old to stand in “line.”

Surprise, surprise, she didn’t last very long. 11:25. We couldn’t risk losing our place, so Jin and Mimi took the next shift. Check out all those polite people lining up off to the side! #noshame

All my cooking seems to be either incredibly difficult or ridiculously easy. I suppose I am either in the mood to do it up really well (which means its time intensive and hard!) or I’ve no time at all and try to get away with doing as little as possible!

Lucky for me, food does not have to be complex to be good. Quality ingredients, big flavor, and simple rendering can be serious people pleasers, so, of course easy wins most days than not!

The following are some of my go-to yummy Korean recipes—hope you find them as easy to accomplish and delicious to eat! [Read more…]

On February 11, 2015, I had the pleasure of hosting some of my mama frens for a Korean Valentines themed lunch at our Inman Park home, and it was one of the loveliest things, ever. I cooked up some spicy Korean foods and we combined some sweet treats from our favorite local bakeries. [Read more…]

Jin’s awesome red meat loving brother-in-law here. Disclaimer: I eat a lot of beef. I’m embarrassed to admit I used to be that guy that put frozen steaks into a George Foreman grill, but those days are thankfully in the past. Now that I’m older (but not necessarily wiser), I decided it’s time to step up into the big leagues of bovine and purchase my own cow, or rather half a cow. I mean who wouldn’t want 200 pounds of beef? I typically buy my meat from a local butcher (Patton’s), but I had heard about people buying an animal straight from a farm so I wanted to try it for myself. Henceforth, I detail my findings and experience for your reading pleasure.

I constantly struggle with the same dilemma every single week: what’s for dinner? It’s a question that I dread. The only aspect of culinary art I enjoy is the part where I get to eat. Unfortunately for my family, cooking is something I don’t enjoy much. I hate the entire process of cooking: meal planning, grocery shopping, prepping, cooking, and cleaning. It’s completely bizarre because my grandmother and mother are amazing and thoughtful cooks who show their love through their food. They’ll make their own kimchi, roll their own noodles, and spend an insane amount of time making homemade dumplings (just to give a few examples of dedication).

But I bring good news to meal planners near and far (whether you like to cook or not)! I recently discovered something that even I, one who dreads planning dinners, could be excited about for meal times. Every Thursday, The Fresh Market has a weekly special called Little Big Meal. They provide all the basic ingredients for a full meal to feed a family of 4 (with lots of leftovers). Themes vary by month. Check out some of their past and current meals:

Asian noodle bowls (they even had a Korean stir fry option!) and pound cake for dessert

Full meal options for Spaghetti. The 36oz cut fruit alone is normally $10.

Not only does the Fresh Market make it easy by providing everything you need for your “Little Big Meal” at a designated section of their store (with samples), but their bundles are a steal at $20. Shoppers can save between $7-$13 per bundle. Depending on the monthly theme, each meal package comes with a variety of options so you can mix it up: protein (they’ve recently added vegetarian options), carb (many are gluten free), sauces, flavors, etc. If you’re not familiar with The Fresh Market, it’s a great store for prepared foods, meats and cheeses, and other specialty items. Their price point can be a bit high, but if you look for their weekly sales, you can make out pretty well. Shopping here is also a pleasant experience: the open layout, warm lighting, classical music, and overall presentation are much more appealing than some of other big-name grocery stores.

So now, at least once or twice a month, I’ll buy a “Little Big Meal” so that it’s at least one less meal I have to think about planning. And while it’s not an “I-made-everything-from-scratch” kind of dinner (which I do put together despite my all inner resistance), it is a quick and easy alternative and much better than ordering pizza. Click here to see if there’s a Fresh Market near you.

The current promotion through November, although I admit this one is a bit lacking compared to other meals

Over the years I have begrudgingly curbed my relationship with ramen as MSG induced hangovers were not meshing well with my aging body. However, about 2 years ago I attained a foodie’s enlightenment from heaven–ramen graduated from the “5 for a dollar” late night regret that I once knew into a mom-approved, grown up companion of steamy goodness.

So, when the Kimchi Belles offered this Thai Beau a chance to go chow down on ramen for free and write about it, I did what any secret ramen lover would do… kindly ask his wife (a.k.a – baby mama) for permission with hopes their newborn child hadn’t been fussy all day. Whew–success for all.

Makan, is a much needed Asian addition to the foodie scene located in Decatur town square. (Check out Kimchi Belles’ earlier write-up from Makan’s opening here.) The event brought together 7 amazing local chefs to stretch their creative culinary noodles along with donating all proceeds to The Giving Kitchen, a nonprofit that provides crisis grants to those in the restaurant community.

The night began with me arriving promptly at 8pm and seeing a line literally out the door. Ramen Fest sold out and the restaurant was at max capacity for the evening.

The place was packed with late 20 to 30 somethings eager to fill their bellies and social feeds with delicious noodles and savory broth.

There were human chains formed at every corner of the restaurant as everyone played musical chairs, moving from one line to the next with a bowl of ramen in tow hoping to get to all 8 ramen stations.

Unfortunately for me, 3 out of 8 ramen stations were slurped dry and my ramen fest came to a screeching halt. From what I did get to try, I enjoyed St Cecilia’s Italian ramen the most because it was very creative and the ingredients complimented one another so well. Nonetheless, there are plans in the making for a bigger and better #AtlRamenFest 2. Until then, you can feast your eyes on the early spoils of the night captured by Creative Loafing’s Brad Kaplan as he put together an amazing collage of all 8 ramen bowls.

Thank you, Kimchi Belles for affording me the chance to reignite my Xanga blogger skills from college days past. I found myself typing away into the wee hours of the morning as my wife and newborn daughter slept away. So, we will see where my inner blogger goes from here. For now, I will leave you with a throw back photo of Sue (and John!), circa 2004.

Unfortunately, I was unable to find one for Jin, so I’ll keep searching my archives to embarrass highlight her next time. Thanks, Kimchi Belles!